Ghost Rider III
by MugiwaraAkagamiKaizoku
Summary: Spontaneously combusting at night does not sound like a teenage girl's regular night out. Becoming Hell's bounty hunter, and wanted dead by the bounty that I was looking for was NOT what I would call 'normal'.  Swearing and a tiny bit parental spanking
1. Chapter 1

**Ghost Rider. **

_Summary: _

_Spontaneously combusting at night does not sound like a teenage girl's regular night out. Becoming Hell's bounty hunter, adopted, and wanted dead by the bounty was not what I would call 'normal'. _

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><p><strong>Chapter One.<strong>

The streets had never been so quiet. Ten o'clock at night in Texas, and no one was screaming bloody murder. If I had been going to sleep, I guess I should have been grateful for the peace and quiet. But you don't sleep if you're an insomniac, right?

I'd lived on my own ever since I'd turned thirteen. Lived in a little apartment that housed a bike for when I needed to travel anywhere, had a bed, a small kitchen, a decent bathroom, and I paid rent on time. I was in general, a good kid. So who could blame a girl from walking out on her abusive parents at the age of thirteen? They were too drunk at the time to even remember to go looking for me, and when they realised I had gone, they filed out the paper work to say that I had been disowned. How nice of them. But it kind of worked out in my favour.

So ten o'clock on a Friday night, I was walking home in the torrential downpour from where I worked as a waitress at the bar two blocks down the road from where I lived. I didn't mind the weather so much, and as for the work…well…I couldn't complain. It was decent work, good pay. Basically enough to help me get by. I'd left the bike at home since I felt that I needed to actually get in some exercise. But it was only two blocks. Not too far away from where I could get home, go to the bathroom clean the cuts on my face and make sure there was no glass left in them.

I reached for my keys and irritably shoved them into the lock, opening the door as I cursed my boss with venom. "I could have taken that son of a bitch if he hadn't intervened to throw him out. Bet it's cause I'm a girl. That bastard." I said angrily, slamming the door behind me and throwing my keys onto a coffee table in the middle of the main room before stalking over to the bathroom.

Staring at myself in the mirror, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could have looked like, but it still hurt. There was a long scratch down the left side of my face, and when I poked it to test, it started to bleed again.

"Shit." I cursed, wincing as the pain shot through my face like a raw nerve being tweaked under the surface of my skin. Grabbing a wad of toilet paper, I wetted it under the cold tap and gently pressed it to the side of my face, hissing as it came into contact with the cut. Soon it faded to a dull ache, and the cool paper felt like heaven on my hot, sweaty, clammy face.

I jumped as a harsh, yet polite knocking sounded at the front door, and I peered around the bathroom door to glare at it. "Martin, if that's you asking for the bloody rent, piss off. I'll give it to you tomorrow morning." I shouted, hoping that Martin wasn't braving the weather just to get the measly rent off of me. It had already drenched my long black hair, which I was currently tying back into a high pony-tail before re-placing the tissue back over the cut.

However, the knocking continued, and if anything it got louder. Muttering darkly to myself, I threw the bathroom door shut and stormed over to the door. With a heave, I flung the door open, and rainwater streamed in. A figure was standing outside the door, dressed all in black and with a black umbrella over him to keep the rain off.

"GET IN HERE." I shouted over the howling wind, gesturing with my one free hand for him to get in.

I was a grouch, but I wasn't going to question someone in a torrential downpour. For the most part, my apartment would get drenched, and Martin would kill me. Or at least double my rent.

The figure seemed to have heard me at any rate, and he closed his umbrella and gracefully stepped inside. Strangely, as soon as he took as step inside, both he and his umbrella seemed to dry off instantly. As though the water had just…evaporated. I dismissed it, thinking it unimportant.

"What do you want." I asked as I closed the door, knowing I was being slightly rude.

The man in front of me merely raised an amused eyebrow. "I think the saying is, 'would you like a cup of tea or coffee'." He said.

I stared at him. "I've already worked as a waitress tonight. You want some coffee, go get it yourself. The kitchen's through there. Now, what do you want?" I stated.

The man chuckled dangerously, but nevertheless, he flicked his hand at the kettle that was in the kitchen and at my cupboard, turning the kettle on and letting a cup fly from the cupboard to rest on the worktop in readiness as he carefully spooned a spoonful of coffee into the cup with the spoon found in one of the drawers. Taking the boiled kettle, he poured it into the cup and replaced it, picking up his cup instead.

"You want milk or sugar with that?" I asked, slightly mollified by what I had just witnessed.

He shook his head politely, a cruel smile on his lips. "No, thank you. I prefer black coffee. I feel it represents a part of me…black…and bitter." He said, sipping from the steaming cup in his hand and leaning on his skull-topped cane with the other.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"Don't you read the bible or any of the religious teachings?" He asked me.

"You didn't answer my question." I said bluntly.

"But I'm helping you towards the answer." He replied coolly.

That one made me shut up.

"I've never read anything religious, and I never intend to." I said after a long exaggerated sigh.

The man tutted, and his fingers tapped rhythmically against his cane. "Would you be interested in making a deal?" He asked suddenly.

I laughed for a second, wincing as it re-opened the cut, making me press the wad of tissue harder onto it to stem the bleeding. "What deal? A deal with the Devil?" I asked jokingly.

His face remained impassive for a second, but he slowly started to smile. "You don't know how right you are my dear Kira." He said. I don't know why, but what he said made me feel queasy, and it disturbed me that he knew my name…My smile faded as I suddenly put two and two together.

"You're the Devil." I said disbelievingly.

"Why Kira…Of course. You may call me Mephistopheles. Did you not see a more useful example of power not moments ago?" He asked, raising his cup of coffee to me in a half-salute as he took another sip.

I blinked. Well…no one can really just dry themselves off as they walk in from a torrential downpour…or move things without touching them. "Prove it." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Prove you're the devil. I don't know…uh…set my curtain on fire." I said gesturing to said small curtain which hung over a small window that looked out over the street.

He slowly turned his head towards the curtain, and I tensed, wondering…

That was when my curtain burst into flames. "OH MY GOD, OK. OK. I BELIEVE YOU. STOP." I yelled rushing over to the curtain as the flames cut out at my screams. "Jeez Dumbledore…" I muttered, patting the smoking remains of my curtain tentatively.

"Do not compare me to a fantasy tale, girl." Mephistopheles snarled.

I held up my hands defensively. "Ok…Ok…Whatever." I said, backing away from my curtain as I walked back over to stand in front of him. "So…What kind of deal is this then?"

"To put it in basic terms, you will work for me to return those who have escaped from Hell." The devil said.

I raised my eyebrow. "So what, I'm your…bounty hunter. As it were."

"If that is how you wish to see it, then yes…A bounty hunter. One of formidable power." He said flatteringly.

I rolled my eyes. "Look, I may be a vicious bitch to people sometimes, and that I pack a pretty good punch, but I'm just a sixteen year-old girl. I don't go around…kicking bad guy's asses."

"Oh but you will…and at sixteen with nothing much to do in your life…no ties at all…I think you'll settle into this job nicely. Not to mention you'll have a long life of which to get used to it." He goaded silkily, extending a small scroll out to me. "I think that cut out the side of your face will do just fine for the signing."

I gaped at him. "You want me to sign in blood?" I asked incredulously.

"Just a drop will do, my dear. It's your soul that you're giving to me…" He said charmingly, making me shiver internally. "Besides…If not, I can always force you to do it. I am in need of someone to fill this post after all."

Gritting my teeth in anger, I threw the bloodied tissue in the bin and pawed at the graze on my cheek, making it bleed properly for the third time that night. He held the unrolled scroll out to me, and a drop of blood dripped down my cheek like a tear, before releasing itself from my chin and splattering down onto the signature line.

"That's lovely…" He crooned, rolling the scroll up again and placing it inside his jacket professionally. I had to give him credit for that. The move was almost movie style.

"So when do I start?" I asked him as I felt the air drop a degree or two, making me draw the zip up on my beloved black hoodie and shove my hands in my jeans pockets.

He looked like he was pondering it for a second. "Let's say…tomorrow." He said, staring at me as his right index finger caught me full in the chest just below the neck where the centre of the breastplate was beneath my skin.

If I could have screamed, I would have. The heat was so intense, I thought it was going to burn me up. I felt flames running through my veins and turn them into molten lava that ran the length of my veins and artery networks. My nerves too. It overpowered almost every cell of my body, making me feel as though I was on fire. If I had screamed, I was sure that I could have done something cool, like breath fire, like some kind of dragon, but to be honest I was immersed in white hot pain that was burning me from the inside out.

Then all of a sudden, like the flick of a switch, it stopped. Just like that. Leaving me feeling like the glowing embers of a recently put out fire. I sank to my knees, and blearily opened my eyes as though for the first time, to find that the man had gone, leaving one of my post-stick notes in the floor in front of me.

I only just had time to read it before I passed out and fell on top of it.

'_Bring back the Hidden.' _

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><p><em><strong>Woo! This is different, never done a 'Ghost Rider' fic before…it's rather exciting. XD<strong>_

_**Please review! ^_^ Next chapter coming soon. **_

_**MugiwaraAkagamiKaizoku**_

_**Q _Q REVIEW. ELSE I WILL SEND THE DEVIL AFTER YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! ;D**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Ghost Rider III. **

_Summary: _

_Spontaneously combusting at night does not sound like a teenage girl's regular night out. Becoming Hell's bounty hunter, and wanted dead by the bounty that I was looking for was NOT what I would call 'normal'. (Swearing and a tiny bit parental spanking)_

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><p><strong>Chapter Two.<strong>

Waking up at half past eleven the next morning wasn't fun.

I felt like I had a hangover, and my long black hair was all in my face and messed up. Which was exactly how I felt at that moment. My body was covered with sweat, a sure sign of nightmares. Or screwed up dreams at least. The most I could remember of this dream was some guy coming into the apartment, claiming he was the devil and forcing me to become some incredibly powerful bounty hunter.

A load of bullshit in my opinion.

"Oh well." I muttered, picking myself up from where I must have passed out from tiredness on the floor. "In the words of Albus Dumbledore 'It does not do, to dwell on dreams.'"

A flash of yellow was hazy before my eyes as I rose from the floor, and I stumbled into the kitchen, clumsily dropping the bread that I took out of the fridge and putting it into the toaster. Catching it as it popped up almost as black as my hair and spreading it with butter. Casually, I went to take a bite, but the burnt, blackened taste had me immediately spitting it out into the bin alongside a wad of toilet paper.

Chucking the rest of the ruined toast into the bin, I put the plate into the sink and quickly washed up the plate, a spoon and a mug that had also been left in there before drying them up and putting them away.

Wandering from the kitchen through to the bathroom, I winced at the morning light coming in from a small hazed over window and pulled the shower curtain across and quickly showered. Once I had washed, and my hair was all clean, I wrapped my soaking locks into a towel along with my body and dried myself, clambering into some new clean clothes with my riding gear on over the top.

I felt significantly more awake, and ready to tackle the day as I pulled my hair up into my signature high-pony tail. Starting with giving Martin that damned rent.

I walked over to the coffee table, which had my phone and rent money on it, when I heard a crackle beneath my feet. Frowning, I looked down to see that I had trampled a post-stick note under my black leather walking boots. I bent to pick it up, and as I read it, I froze.

"The Hidden…" I whispered. I stuffed it in my pocket hurriedly and grabbed the rent money that was sealed in the envelope labelled 'Number 3, Kira's rent money' , dashing out the door and across the street to post it through Martin's letterbox at number one.

Running back into the apartment, I grabbed my bike keys off of the table and pushed my bike, which I had christened 'Kakuzu' when I had bought it at the age of fifteen with my license to ride, out of the large apartment door and onto the road, making sure I had shut the door behind me securely as I jammed the keys into the bike's lock and twisting it several times to start it up, pulling my helmet on and climbing onto my smooth black beauty and kicking out onto the road, heading for the highway to go out of the city to find the nearest damn church.

Seems I needed to read up on religion.

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><p>I found my church after a good three hour drive, which I can tell you, made my butt absolutely kill when I glanced at my watch which now read three o'clock in the afternoon. Meaning that I had five hours until whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. Putting down Kakuzu's bike stop, I glanced around the graveyard which I just followed the road down through. It looked suspiciously well kept.<p>

Taking myself inside the church, I smirked ironically. The devil's advocate seeking help in god's house. Well this was going to be good. I took a deep breath, hoping that the vicar was around.

"Uh…Hello? Anyone there? I was wondering if I could have some help, please?" I called out, my voice echoing around the ancient church stones.

There was a silence…and I thought about going back out to take a look around.

"You lookin' for something?" An old, gravel-like voice said from behind me. I shrieked, whipping around and preparing to strike whoever it was. I stopped myself in time as I saw that it was a rather tall man who looked like he was in his fifties, if the long white hair and moustache were anything to go by. He had a distinct Texan accent, and for some reason I felt oddly like he ought to be respected…

"Sorry…you…you scared me there." I apologised.

He laughed and dipped his hat to me in greeting, swinging a shovel up to come and rest on his right shoulder. "Sorry about that. Name's Carter Slade, caretaker of the church grounds."

"Slade…ok." I responded, shifting the motorbike hat under my arm from where it was starting to get uncomfortable by digging into my hip. I didn't particularly want to give my name out yet.

"Well then, what is it you're lookin' for?" He asked.

I glanced around, mentally preparing myself for studying. "Well…I need to do some research, and I was wondering if you had…a small…I don't know religious library? Anything from the bible, to angels…demons…the in-between and unknown…bounty hunters. All of it. There's something I need to know, and pretty quickly." I explained roughly, not wanting to give anything away.

Slade nodded and motioned for me to sit down at a small round table and chairs, a large white cross engraved into the middle of the brown oak table. "Sit here for a min' or two, and I'll get you your research materials." He said, winking at me kindly and ambling back outside to put away his shovel. For some reason I got the feeling that he knew…but I wasn't going to be the first to say anything.

I walked over to the table and carefully placed my helmet down on the chair. Starting to feel hot and sweaty on the hot summer day, I peeled off my bike clothes too, leaving just a new pair of black jeans and a dark green short-sleeved t-shirt. I straightened my pony-tail and draped the biker clothes over the back of the chair and placed the helmet down beside my feet as I sat down.

True to his word, Slade came back not a minute later with six books in his arms which I rushed to help carry by taking them from him.

"Oh my god thank you." I gushed, excited by the prospect of getting some answers. "When I'm done, do you want me to leave them here or come and find you with them?" I asked politely, feeling that I owed it to him.

"Call me over and I'll see if I can help make sense of anything, if you want." Slade said, tipping his hat to me and walking back out into the oven heat of the outside world.

I rubbed my hands together and nodded to myself. "O…k then. Sounds legit."

I got to work, reading up all I could. Anything to do with this Mephistopheles guy, or the devil. Things that related him to bounty hunters, or deals, contracts…I looked.

I found a few things.

'_The contract of blood to sell ones soul,-_'

'-_of which a curse was wrought upon he who walked the night in search of the escaped demons of hell-_'

But there was one name that kept getting repeated, the one that freaked me out the most, as it just made me shiver in fear.

'_Ghost Rider._'

Nothing else helped, and it didn't really explain. It didn't explain what I was meant to do, how to do it, what was going to happen to me. It didn't explain what this 'Ghost Rider' thing was either. I hate religion, and here I was looking up some fantasy, all because I made a deal that was only now just starting to freak me the hell out.

I glared at the open book that was propped open in my hands and shut it decisively, slamming the book down on the table in anger and desperation. "FUCK." I shouted, letting my pent up anger out in one word, making me instantly feel better as I ran my hands through the hair and hid my face in my propped up elbows.

"You're in the house of god. You best apologise, girl." Slade called from where he was leant against the doorway with his arms folded and his hat pulled slightly low over his eyes.

I groaned and raised my head from my arms. "Sorry…" I called out to no one in particular. "Sorry for making the stupidest mistake of my life and selling my soul to some…some…demon thing who wants me to be a freaking bounty hunter starting tonight to do 'I-don't-know-what' and probably get myself killed because I'M ONLY SIXTEEN." I shouted, my voice to a yell as I stood up abruptly and flung the chair over backwards and running my hands through my black hair.

There was a moment of silence, and I could feel Slade watching me. With a sigh of momentary regret, I looked over to him, to see that he was in the same position…just watching me impassively. He raised an eyebrow at me and I groaned again. "Sorry." I muttered, leaning down and picking the chair up and setting it back on all four of its wooden legs. "Feeling a bit lost right now."

"I can tell. You've been readin' those books over and over again for the past four hours, so I'd be surprised if you weren't." Slade said shortly, but not unkindly. I checked my watch, which sure enough read five minutes past seven. He cocked his head to the left slightly. "Say, what was your name again?" He asked.

I looked up at him from where I was sat in the chair once more, fiddling with my fingers. "Hmm? Oh, Kira." I introduced. I guess there was no harm in telling him my name. I'll probably be dead by tomorrow if this thing is true.

"Kira…" Slade said. "You're a tad young to be Mephistopheles' bounty hunter. Y'know that?"

"You know about Mephistopheles?" I questioned, my curiosity aroused as I stared at him.

Slade sat down in the chair opposite me and gave me a small smile. "Sure I know of Mephistopheles. Myself and another that I know of…I called him as soon as I left you with those books…I think he may be able to help you…and your driving, no offence miss. I watched you come in, see."

I glared at him. "My driving is fine." I snapped. "Who is this guy any-"

The roaring of an approaching engine cut me off, and I glanced over to the doorway, standing up as Slade did opposite me. "I think you're about to find out." He said, waiting as he rocked back on his heels once or twice.

My eyes narrowed as a figure came in through the little archway entrance, dressed in a leather jacket, dark jeans. He was tall, and he had short tousled brown hair.

"Hey there Slade. Long time no see." The man said, warmly shaking hands with him in recognition. "The name's Johnny Blaze." The man said, introducing himself to me with a small smile.

Slade gestured to me slowly. "This here is Kira, and she seems to have a dangerous problem on her hands."

Suddenly it clicked for me. Johnny Blaze, the expert motorbike rider who had jumped over six helicopters on some football field. The legendary bike rider. I threw my hands up in the air. "Great. Just great. You think I'm dangerous on a bike so you call in the expert…screw this." I said angrily, turning on my heel and storming out of the little church.

I could hear them calling after me as I ran out into the evening's dying sunshine and up to where Kakuzu was waiting for me, but to be quite honest, I didn't give a damn. I jumped onto my bike and revved the engine before taking off at what I knew was a ridiculous speed and had the potential to get me killed.

I was onto the dirt track road in next to two minutes, doing up to around eighty, which was stupid, I know. But I couldn't help it, I was pissed off. I didn't need any help in riding a bike. I was doing fine on my own.

The sound of another, louder engine could be heard coming up behind me, and I sucked my cheeks in, making it look like I had just sucked a sour lemon.

Johnny pulled up alongside me, yelling at me over the engines. "STOP THE BIKE. I ONLY WANT TO HELP YOU."

"BUGGER OFF." I yelled back politely, speeding up along the dirt track until I hit eighty five, totally surpassing him.

He pulled up again, but obviously this time, he wasn't going to talk. Instead, he must have hit about one hundred and thirty, and he kept going up the dirt track until I could barely see him in the distance. It was only when I got a little bit closer, that I realised that if I didn't stop now, I was going to hit him from where he was parked in the middle of the track at nearly ninety miles an hour.

My hand clamped down on the brakes, easing on them to make sure I didn't throw myself off in the process, and Kakuzu's front wheel stopped not two millimetres in front of Blaze's own bike, 'Grace'.

I glared at him, and he raised an eyebrow at me as we both stepped off of our bikes to face each other. "Ready to talk yet?" He asked. In reply, I flipped him the bird. "Now that's just rude."

"I know. I wasn't intending on being polite. Now move your bike the fuck out of my way." I growled as I turned around to start making my way back over to my bike.

Pain exploded in the back of my head as Johnny's hand connected with it sharply. "Quit swearing already." He reprimanded me sternly. "And try to be a little more civil and cooperative…I'm trying to help."

I glowered at him. "Go to hell."

He rolled his eyes and shoved me over towards grace as he untied a length of chain from the back of his seat and tied it from there, securely to my own bike.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I asked indignantly.

"Towing your bike back with us." He said simply.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither is my bike you jumped up son of a bitch!" I yelled furiously, starting to head back over to my bike, intending to release the chain.

Instead, I felt my ear being grabbed and twisted painfully, making me yelp as Johnny pulled me by the ear back over to Grace and to lift me into her seat before sitting in front of me. He revved up the engine, and before I could think of escaping, he took off at about seventy miles per hour, making me cling onto him for dear life as I cursed in my head all the way back to that bloody church.

As soon as we arrived back, I looked up to see Slade leaning on a digging shovel, apparently waiting for us. The bikes drew to a halt, and Johnny locked it down before climbing off of it, pushing me ahead of him into the church as I cursed at him, Slade slowly following us with an intrigued look that was given away by a single raised eyebrow.

Johnny pushed me down into the seat I had knocked over earlier and stood next to me before sitting down in the chair next to me. "Look here Kira." He said, his tone dangerous. "Do NOT make me lose my patience." He warned me. "Understood?"

I nodded sullenly, refusing to look at him.

"Good. I'm here because Slade called me. He told me, that you made a certain deal…a certain deal with Mr. Mephistopheles…Am I right?"

I nodded again, resisting the urge to glare at them both. Seemed Blaze was serious, and I wasn't yet ready to take him on.

"Right. How much do you know about a Ghost Rider?" He asked as he glanced over to see Slade resting up against the edge of the archway.

I shook my head. "Not much." I muttered. "All I know is that I made some deal with the Mephistopheles guy, he claims to have my soul, and that I have to go do some…bounty hunter job for him for demons who have got to go back to Hell. Which I'm not prepared to do, because I am only sixteen, and I don't know what the hell this thing even _involves_." I growled at him.

He raised his eyebrow warningly, and I backed off a little bit.

"So you're scared?"

"NO!" I exploded, rubbing my hands over my face as I groaned quietly.

There was a silence.

"Yes…" I whispered finally.

"Right." Blaze said, glancing at his watch. "I think you'll only have about…what…fifteen minutes, if that, before this curse kicks in."

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

He shook his head and laid his hand flat on the table. "Doesn't matter. I'm helping you, ok?"

"I think quite literally, Hell knows I could do with some help." I said dryly, getting a smile out of him. "So…What do I need to do?" I asked.

Blaze cast a look up at Slade, who shrugged. "Best let it just take it's course but make sure she stays here for the whole time. I'm pretty sure we can keep her in line, right?" Slade chuckled, sharing a wry grin with Blaze.

I felt myself getting angry and confused again, and just as I opened my mouth to give them a piece of my mind, I screamed in agony. They turned to look at me, nonplussed, as though they'd seen it before. Slade stood upright and started to walk out into the night.

"I'll hook up the bikes so she can't go anywhere anytime soon." He called calmly.

"Good idea." Blaze called back, before turning his attention back to me. "Hey, I know it hurts, but don't fight it. It'll be quicker and easier that way." He said, his voice soft and understanding.

"Wh-What's happening…" I choked out, gasping as smoke filled my lungs and my I felt myself start to burn up like a witch at the stake.

Blaze smiled knowingly. "You're becoming a Ghost Rider."

I stared at him in disbelief, and I stopped fighting it for the second that those words had distracted me.

In that split second, every fibre of my being erupted, and I felt…powerful. But there was something pulling at me…something important that was telling me to go. Go somewhere, it felt like a tiny little voice-no…like the crackling, spitting embers of a fire that hissed two broken words at me repeatedly.

'_Find…them…Find…them…FIND…THEM._'

I opened my mouth to give way to a scream, which turned into an inhuman roar as I bellowed to the ceiling of the church. Turning, I walked out into the night, shining like a beacon. Looking down at my hands, I could only see skeletal fingers, with a flame that was dancing around it, one that could never go out. It was beautiful and deadly…and I loved it.

There was no transport, meaning I had to go on foot to find them. It was my current life's meaning. To search and destroy.

Running towards the church, I quickly scaled the stone walls, which wouldn't have been hard anyway, there were uneven stones jutting out everywhere, providing multiple hand and footholds. Within mere seconds I was on the roof of the church, casually walking up the slates as my beacon shined out over the plains.

Jumping down to the inside of the church, I flicked the large bell, making it toll out as it left a black soot mark on it. My skeletal grin got wider, and I flicked all over the outside of the bell, making the ominous music of the night.

My neck clicked as I turned around and walked back out onto the roof, running the length of it and jumping, free-falling from the top of the building as I plummeted to the ground, only to land with a tremendous thump on my feet, like some kind of cat.

'_Find…them…Find…them…FIND…THEM._' The voice started to call again. But I wasn't done playing yet. There was a nearby tree, and by extending my arm and quickly splaying my hand, fire shot out and caught the half-dead tree, making it burn up like paper.

Wreaking havoc as I went, I had at least four to five hours of fun before the voice finally got through to me and insisted its orders, adding a small craving to it which overwhelmed my skeletal frame.

I started running out through the graveyard, and it felt good. There were no muscles to complain at me, no lungs for me to lose my breath with, no heart or pulse to let me feel the effort it was taking to get oxygen around my body. Just freedom. Freedom with a purpose.

I laughed, a deep, cruel sound that emitted from the back of what would be my throat, which was now just the top of my spinal cord. "In the name of the Devil, impure souls of the living or dead shall be banished into eternal damnation."

"Amen." Came the human voice from behind me.

I came to an abrupt halt, and upon turning around fully, I spotted Johnny Blaze not three steps away from me. I cocked my skull to the right and stared at him. "Human…but not. Both innocent, and evil." I intoned, unable to make up my mind.

"Play time's over kid. Time to reign you in." Johnny said firmly.

"You can't stop me." My demonic voice replied.

Blaze chuckled. "Who says?" He asked, a length of chain dropping down from his hand. If I had had eyebrows, I would have raised one.

The chain suddenly whipped out, taking me by surprise as it wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. Then he started to pull, quite literally reigning me in. I dug my heels in and snarled at him, taking a deep breath and exerting my power down the length of the chain, making it catch fire instead of melt.

That was wrong…it was supposed to melt.

He must of seen my confusion, because he smirked. "That's not going work you know…this chain is used to that kind of heat."

I snorted angrily, like a horse blowing out steam, and the fire turned blue, into a roaring flame. Kind of like the ones you could get from a Bunsen burner that they keep in those special labs.

Johnny raised an eyebrow, and as he did so, the blue flame changed to a white hot flame, burning almost as intensely as the fires of hell itself. Yet the chain, and him, remained completely fine. With one final heave, he pulled me to the floor in front of him.

"For a Ghost Rider…you're pretty tame…but we can work on that." He said, contemplating something.

I roared at him and kicked myself upright, kicking him in the chest powerfully, even though my torso was tightly bound. He went flying back, but he kept his grip on the chain, and he pulled me after him. We collided in the dirt and rolled, which inadvertently put my flames out for a good ten to fifteen seconds.

However, he must have known that would be the outcome, as he grabbed the chain and ran me over to the church, to where Slade had just finished setting up a tall wooden beam, and using the chain, he wrapped it around me and the pole together, securing it tightly so that there was no chance of me even trying to escape.

"Time out." Johnny said folding his arms over his chest as he stood next to Carter.

"Time…is running…out." I said eerily.

"No, the time's up. You've exhausted your limit." Carter said, leaning on his shovel.

I made to say something again as I struggled against the bonds that held me, when suddenly I felt that painful, burning sensation started to come back. Screaming in agony, deep down I felt surprised as I recognised it to be my own, normal voice. Laced with pain of course, but it was me. I thought back to what Johnny had said earlier.

'_I know it hurts, but don't fight it. It'll be quicker and easier that way._'

Focusing as my lungs reformed, making me able to breathe, or rather…gasp in pain…I concentrated hard, and just…let go.

I forced myself to relax, making sure every current re-forming muscle and organ was totally relaxed and (if possible) comfortable. I wanted nothing more than to just keep screaming and fighting it, like my nature told me to. Like a gut instinct, which again was also currently reforming.

The transformation complete, the last thing I remembered was looking down at my burnt hands.

Then, for the second time in two nights…I passed out.

* * *

><p>As I came to at about six o'clock in the morning, five hours later, I hissed in pain as the first rays of sunlight started to hit me, and they highlighted the still visible scratch on my cheek, which was now quite happily sewed back together. Now just a faint line.<p>

I barked a small, quiet laugh suddenly. "Hah…If I used to be an insomniac, well, now I have an excuse."

I tried to move my limbs, but they instantly told me that it was a bad idea as the writhed and screamed in protest and agony. "Ow…ow…ow…Ok…ah…Fuck my life…" I muttered, letting myself hang in the chains that surrounded me, keeping me pinned to the pole.

Assessing the position of the chains that surrounded me, I figured that getting out of them wouldn't actually be too hard. One end of the chain had been properly hammered into the ground. Buried, almost…which sounded kind of ironic. I just…needed…to lift it…

It took me a good fifteen minutes to work the chain out of the earth with my feet, and a further five to actually unwrap it from around my body. It was a heavy chain, and this really was no easy feat. But I just about managed it. By the end of it, my arms ached, especially seeing as the blood was rushing down them, after having been starved of red blood cells for a while.

My jeans were ripped and torn, and my green t-shirt was a little charred, but it was nothing that wouldn't come out in the wash…probably. Without having to look in a mirror, I knew I was a mess.

Casting a look around me, I saw that neither Carter or Johnny were in sight. Which was a good thing. I could only just remember last night, in where they had left me to wreak havoc, only to pull me back when I got too far.

I had noted that Kakuzu had been moved across to the other side of the graveyard with Grace, both waiting patiently in the peaceful morning sunlight.

Not if I had anything to do with it.

Making a break for it, I started running. But I hadn't got more than halfway when a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, effectively stopping me.

"Good morning to you too." Came Slade's voice.

I groaned. I was not a morning person. Slade turned me around, and I saw that they were both standing there, knowing smiles on their faces.

"I think you've got some work ahead of you, missy." Slade said, raising an eyebrow as pushed me along at small interviews as he led the three of us back into the church and up a small, twisting flight of stairs.

I waved it away. "I know…I know…First night of turning into some weird skeleton Ghost Rider and there is no way that I could be strong enough to take on these guys that I've got to apparently hunt down. Yeah I know-"

"Actually, I was thinking a little more closer to home." Slade chuckled, throwing something at me as we walked into a large room that was at the top of the church, to the opposite end of it's steeple.

I caught it, nearly walking backwards into Blaze who was directly behind me from where he was leaning in the doorway, seeing that the object was a spray can of cleaning fluids. I frowned. "What's this for?" I asked, looking up to see Carter standing beside a huge bell.

That was covered in black marks.

"I think it's time for a bit of house cleanin'. Don't you?" He said, tapping the bell lightly so that some of the black dust-like stuff crumbled slightly at his touch.

"You've got to be kidding me…" I said with a sinking feeling as he walked back over and passed me on the way to the stairs.

"You best get going if you want lunch on time." Carter called as he disappeared down the stairs, leaving me with Blaze.

"Fuck." I muttered, staring at the bell.

Something whipped me painfully in the butt, making me yelp and swiftly turn around to see Johnny holding out a cleaning cloth towards me as I rubbed the spot ruefully. "I'll be watching you to make sure you do it properly…so you best mind your language whilst you're at it."

I plucked the cleaning towel from his grasp and set to work, giving him an evil glare. "Yes _Sir_." I mocked.

Two hours later, and I was grimy with streaks of soot, but half of the bell was almost spotless. I was a generally hard worker, so this wasn't gonna be an exception.

I still refused to say a word to him. It annoyed me to think that he was that much stronger than me. He was a mere human, and he had just simply tied me up. What the hell was with that? No doubt about it, Johnny could kick my ass even when I was in Ghost Rider mode. Granted, it had been the first time I had…what…transformed? But still. It royally pissed me off.

I channelled the anger into cleaning.

But he must have noticed, as he focused on me. "What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Nothing." I replied through gritted teeth.

"Still mad at me for chaining you up, eh." He said, rising off of the ledge he had been sitting on until then and coming to stand beside me.

I scowled, making him laugh. "I wouldn't worry about it Kira, I'm an old timer."

The cleaning paused. "What?" I asked him blankly.

"I've been through this already." He insisted. "Trust me when I say that I know and understand what you're going through."

I stared at him for a few seconds before taking back my attention and focusing on the cleaning once more, shaking my head disbelievingly. "Piss off. Now you're just taking the mick." I growled, furious with myself for even getting drawn into the conversation.

Johnny's face hardened and he showed me the back of his hand, letting it spontaneously combust, so that the flames enveloped his whole hand as the skin an muscle peeled away. The same flaming skeletal hand quickly rained down two sharp blows to my rear end, making me screech in pain, seeing as my jeans provided little protection against a fellow Ghost Rider's power.

"OW! Owwwww…" I wailed, biting down on the inner of my bottom lip. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry…Alright? You really are a Ghost Rider, I get it…ow…that really hurts, you know."

Johnny rolled his eyes, but nevertheless his hand returned to normal. "It was supposed to." He stated as he continued to watch me work, returning to the complete silence once more for at least another two hours, where I irritably yet continuously scrubbed away the last few remaining black marks on the church bell.

But something had been nagging at me, and I finally turned to him, the question literally exploding from me. "HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?" I exclaimed, gesturing wildly as I talked. "It's not night-time. So how the f-…fudge did you just become part skeleton like that?"

He looked up in surprise. "What this?" He asked, holding his hand up and igniting it again.

"Yes! That!" I said enthusiastically. "Please teach me to do that!"

He laughed and stood up, walking around the full perimeter of the bell before standing next to me. "Well, Kira…seeing as you've finished cleaning the bell, I don't see why I shouldn't show you over lunch."

I grinned, for what felt like the first time in a long time, and grabbing the cleaning cloth and spray can, I darted down the stairs after him as my stomach growled in agreement.

As we walked into a small room at the back of the church, I saw Carter standing with his back to us as he stood in front of what looked like a cooker.

"Carter…are you cooking?" I asked incredulously, unsure if cooking in a church was allowed.

Carter turned around with a smile. "So what if I am? You won't be gettin' any if you ain't done that bell." He said, making me smile at him witheringly.

"I did it, and I did it good too." I said, feeling indignant. But I was proud of my work."Well then you might as well sit down the both of you, it'll be ready in a second. S'nothin' like a good old bacon sandwich." Carter said, turning his attention back to the bacon that he had been cooking on the stove.

Johnny and I sat down, and I yelped quietly and winced slightly as I did so, making Carter turn his head to look at me curiously so that I blushed and looked away in embarrassment, not missing the raised eyebrow that he threw at Johnny over my head, to which Johnny replied with a shrug.

Blaze leaned back and stripped himself of his leather jacket so that he was in just his regular grey t-shirt. He propped his elbows on the table and clasped his hands and he pointed to me to gain my attention."So. You want to know how to call forth the Rider's power during the day, right?" He asked.

I nodded, and Carter chuckled from behind me. "You sure that's safe with her?" He drawled heavily in his Texan accent. Johnny also smirked at the comment. I resisted the temptation to flip him the bird unbeknown to him, and tactfully chose to ignore the comment and waited for him to continue.

"Ok then...you have the spirit of the Ghost Rider in you, like I do, yes?" I nodded. "Yeah...obviously." "Right. Because at the moment, it is for want of a better word, controlling you. Like at night, when the Rider automatically comes out to hunt down his prey so that he can send them back to Hell." Johnny explained. I slumped down in my seat, a sickened expression on my face.

"This thing controls when it changes me?" I questioned, feeling even more depressed.

"Only at night." Johnny said. He held up one finger. "But...When I did some research, I found a way to gain control over the spirit. It told me, that the host can gain control of the possessing spirit through concentration on and manipulation of the fire element that exists within."

"He was a good reader at school you can tell." Carter said sarcastically from behind us, making me bite my lip so as not to laugh outright and annoy Johnny into not helping me.

I perked up a little bit as Johnny's words gained my interest. Now this was what I wanted. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Let's try it. Shall we? I want you to extend your hand out, palm up facing the ceiling. That's right, no, no. Just one hand. Ok, now I want you to say; Give me control over the possessing spirit."

Holding out my right hand as instructed palm up, I closed my eyes momentarily and took several deep breathes as I concentrated on trying to manipulate the fire element within me. I wasn't sure what it meant, but the closest thing I could think of, was when Mephistopheles had marked me as the Ghost Rider, and the fire that had ran throughout my entire body. Focusing on the memory of that, I concentrated as hard as I could on it, even though the memory itself was painful. "Give me control over the possessing spirit." I said, my voice a firm monotone as I opened my eyes and curled my fingers slightly.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, I clicked my fingers. Like a cigarette lighter, a small bout of flame appeared and danced at my finger tips. I smirked and gave a small, almost breathless laugh at the success. "Wicked..." I whispered, trying out different things as I moved my hand in and out of it's skeletal...ness and experimented my abilities of controlling the flames.

"Uh oh, we got someone here who's being dangerous Carter, she's playing with fire." Johnny joked good-naturedly.

"Hmmm, well she better not set fire to that table-cloth. Else she'll get one helluva smack from me." Carter responded as he set three full platefuls of bacon sandwiches in the middle of the table and set three empty plates in front of us as he dusted his hands down before sitting with us, eyeing me pointedly.

Immediately I put out the flames, just to be on the safe side. Johnny smirked and shook his head.

"Well, for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful." Carter recited, bowing his head.

"Amen." Johnny and I echoed.

"Dig in then guys. I made more than enough for the three of us." Carter said as he reached for one himself.

"I'm just hoping it's not got food poisoning if Johnny was pretending to be the match that lit the stove." I joked innocently as I took a bite from the heavenly bacon sandwich, causing Carter to nearly choke on his own with laughter.

Johnny snorted indignantly. "As if."

We talked as we ate. Things to do with Mephistopheles, others to do with types of pigs in relation to bacon, Johnny's upcoming bike jump show. We discussed in which hospitals we were born in, but not the dates of the guys, who joked that they were...sensitive about their age.

And then a question from Johnny hit me like a bomb.

"Hey Kira, won't your parents be worried about you? Or did you involve them in part of the deal?" He asked, taking a bite out of his fourth sandwich.

I paused in eating my third and swallowed hard, the morsel having gone bland in my mouth as soon as he'd asked the question.

"Uhh...No. My deal was more of a forced one. I didn't have any choice. As for my parents...I ran away when I was thirteen because they were drunk all the time. I work as a waitress in a rowdy pub two blocks away from my apartment where I pay rent." I said quietly, trying to be nonchalant as I took another mouthful.

Carter and Johnny shared a look. "For a Ghost Rider of your age, Hell, even as a normal girl your age, you should not, I repeat _not_, be living alone." Johnny said at last.

I shrugged. "I'm not bothered. The work's good pay. It pays the bills at least."

Carter shook his head. "That's ain't what we mean, but that's a part of it. We mean, that it's dangerous to live in Texas alone at that age. To be a Ghost Rider at this age and livin' alone, you're lucky it was you're first night and then we restrained you before you got out. As a Ghost Rider, you make enemies, and quickly. They find out they've got a newbie on their hands, you'll be dead," Carter clicked his fingers, "like that."

I gulped. "Th-thanks for being optimistic guys." I joked weakly.

There was a silence in which we finished the final bacon sandwiches. My head was hurting, and I felt like I wanted to cry. I closed my eyes quickly.

"Uhh, do you mind if I-" I stopped, unable to say anything else as feelings overwhelmed me, and I stood up and bolted from the room into the graveyard. I wandered around for what must have seemed like ages, glancing at the names and dates of various members of the dead who had been buried over time.

To relax myself, I played a morbid game of find the oldest headstone. Only problem with that was, the oldest one I found was near the church. I found it on the way back, but that wasn't the part I was worried about. It was the name on the headstone.

'Carter Slade.'

I ran back inside, to where the two men were sitting there still, as if waiting. I slammed my hands down on the table and turned to Slade.

"Why hell is there a bloody gravestone outside with your name on it?" I growled. "Is that some kind of sick joke?"

Slade looked at me slowly from underneath his Texan cowboy hat, but I held my ground. "So you noticed huh." He drawled. "You found the dead man's grave."

It gave me the chills to hear him say that, but I focused on what my suspicions were trying to tell me. "So if you were supposed to have died..._What's keeping you alive_? Hm?" I persisted.

There was a silence, and Johnny leaned back in his seat, putting his hands back behind his head. "Well?"

"Well now you see miss Kira, there are actually three Ghost Riders in this room." Carter said, a slow smirk spreading across his face.

I stared at him for a few seconds, blinking. "So...If Blaze is an 'old timer'...what are you, a 'super old timer'?"

Johnny sniggered uncontrollably, and Carter's moustache twitched as he cast a look at his friend. "I s'pose you could call it that. But I ain't showin' you. I do that, and I disintegrate. I've already served my time. Me being here on earth 'not-yet-dead' as it were, is the only thing allowin' Johnny to still transform into the Ghost Rider, and I've already agreed that I'll make sure that continues. Besides, who'll look after you otherwise?"

I looked to Johnny...back at Carter...back to Johnny...Carter...and my shoulders sagged. "Bloody Hell." I muttered, casting a wary look at Blaze as I said it, who merely raised an eyebrow.

Carter sighed and stood up. "Well then." He said, brushing himself down. "Johnny, get out here. We need to teach this girl some self-defence."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks for the reviews guilygear and TRUMAN'S SHELL. <strong>_

_**Guiltygear - I'm sorry if you don't like the story, but hey. Don't like, don't read. Besides, it was just how I wanted to start the story. **_

_**TRUMAN'S SHELL - Thank you! Hope this is ok! x)**_

_**SaintAugustana - Thanks for the story alert!^^**_

_**Will hopfully update soon! =)**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Ghost Rider III. **

_Summary: _

_Spontaneously combusting at night does not sound like a teenage girl's regular night out. Becoming Hell's bounty hunter, and wanted dead by the bounty that I was looking for was NOT what I would call 'normal'. (Swearing and a tiny bit parental spanking)_

_**Later on in this chapter, I had an idea…It was spontaneous, and not sure if it was a good idea or not…but hey. Review with your thoughts, but if you don't like it, don't rant at me. Kay? O_O**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three.<strong>

I stood a little way a ways opposite Carter, hands in my pockets as I scuffed the dirt. We were outside, in a spot where there were no graves in sight. Carter claimed that this was his 'clean' spot.

"Come on, hands out the pockets." Carter encouraged. Reluctantly, I freed them and let them hang by my sides uselessly. "Ok. Hit me."

I stared at him. "I can't hit an old guy!" I exclaimed. Hysterical laughter in the form of Johnny sounded out from where he was leant up against the side of the church watching us. "Shut up Johnny!" I yelled, making the laughter die down a little, but not fade out completely.

"Just hit me." Carter drawled, splaying his arms wide. Then he smirked wickedly. "If you can."

My eyes narrowed at that, and I sprinted forwards. I was quite a fast runner, and I had always been proud of that fact. I was directly in front of him, my fist raised back as I prepared to deliver a swift blow to his face. "Sorry." I apologised, hoping I wouldn't knock him out or anything.

What actually happened though, I didn't expect, to say the least. His wicked smirk grew wider, and he grabbed my arm, pulling me down and past him so that I landed in the dirt beside him.

"Oh dear." Carter said, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "What were you sorry for by the way?"

I growled and stood up, brushing myself off. "Nothing." I muttered. Then I had an idea. My fist was up within seconds, and it connected with his chest plate, sending him back a little. He raised his hand to his heart, and bent over double starting to cough, suddenly he sank to his knees.

Concerned at what I had done, I frowned and ran to him, bending down from the waist as I put my hand on his back. "Hey, are you o-AAGH!"

He grabbed my ankles and pulled my legs out from underneath me. I landed with a thump on my back, and suddenly I was hauled up by shoulders, and his arm wrapped around my neck. "So what are you going to do from here. Think." Carter said instructively.

Yeah great advice when he's attempting to choke you. The only thing I could think was '_Breathe!_', and that wasn't really helping as my hands scrabbled at his arm. Even when I transformed my hands, trying to burn him, I remembered that he would be impervious to my fire. I tried in vain to head-butt him, but he'd already thought one step ahead of me as he kept his head well out of range.

Thinking on impulse, I raised my left leg, and felt his own left leg stand back slightly as he anticipated it, and in that split second, I rammed my heel into the inside of knee of the opposite side, making his knee give way so that he released me so that he could catch himself on the ground with his hands, leaving me to fall with him and successfully roll away.

Blinking hazily as I found I was able to breathe, I stood upright and turned back to face Carter, only to see him point a loaded gun in my face.

"Oh shit." I said in a calm monotone.

"Carter!" Johnny called.

"Hm?" Carter called back, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Hit her one for me." Johnny shouted over.

I turned to glare at Johnny angrily. "Shut up Blaze!" I yelled, my hands balled into fists.

Suddenly Carter twisted the shotgun in his hands and clubbed me round the head with the butt end of it. I massaged the spot as I let out a yell of pain. "The hell?"

"S'bad manners to hear swearing from a young lady." Carter reprimanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please, spare me from it." I moaned, watching blankly as gun was back in his hands and he started to press the trigger. I could feel my eyes go as wide as saucers, and on instinct, I let my knees collapse from under me, hearing the shot fire overhead. I landed on one safely bent leg and my hands, making me feel like some kind of cat. Using the straight leg, I swept it around in a half circle, taking Carters legs out form under him.

I rolled backwards and came up with a long sturdy stick in my hand. Turning, I saw that Carter had already recovered and stood up, aiming the gun at me again. Gritting my teeth, I knocked the gun out of the way with the miniature branch and disarmed him, pointing the stick at him.

Which must have looked very threatening, I'm sure.

"Checkmate." I growled, jabbing him lightly in the chest.

Carter chuckled and slowly clapped. "That was a good move, an' it would have been better had it been an actual weapon. Somehow I don't think brandishin' a stick at your enemies is gonna be enough to scare 'em." I shrugged and dropped the stick to the ground, feeling slightly sheepish. "We've all had our own trade mark weapons in the past. Mine being the gun as you saw."

I turned to look at Johnny with a frown as he came over to join us. "So then…what's J-" Suddenly a chain whipped out and grabbed me around the torso, tightening it's grip on me as it cut me off halfway through my question. "Well…that was…rude." I gasped as the chains were unravelled once more. "But it's not that scary…" I said, not very convinced.

"I was merely demonstrating mine before you had to even ask it." Johnny supplied for me.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"In any case…with any luck you should be fine if you were to find yourself being attacked." Carter said in conclusion.

I rolled my eyes. "That's great." I snapped. I wanted to go out and find these…Hidden…guys. I wanted to put it all into practice, see what I was really capable of.

When I refocused, I saw that Carter had left, presumably to go and dig some more graves back in the grave yard, leaving me with Johnny Blaze.

"Kira." Johnny called out to me as I began to walk off. I turned, giving him my attention momentarily. "Come here a second. There's something I want to talk to you about."

I shrugged and wandered my way back over to him, resisting the tempting urge to say something insulting as I faced him. "What?" I asked, for once wishing that I could go to bed and sleep like a normal person.

"Earlier…you mentioned that you left home at thirteen, correct?" He said, as though making sure of something.

"Uh, affirmative. My parents disowned me once they'd realised that I'd left for good." I said, messing around a little bit.

He stopped, considering something before he spoke, making me wait. "Carter and I both agree that you living on your own isn't safe." He started. "And…I think it would be easier for you, as both a normal teenager and even more so as a Ghost Rider, if I were to adopt you. For your safety. Living on your own at the age you're at now is dangerous, and as Carter explained earlier, as a Ghost Rider of your age, it's almost suicidal." He finished, letting me process the idea.

There was a silence.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ohhhh, that's a good one." I laughed, doubled over with mirth for nigh on a full minute. I straightened up, wiping tears of laughter off of the corners of my eyes. Looking back at him, I realised that his expression was actually looking kind of serious. "Wait…are you serious?" I questioned.

He responded with a nod. "Kira…I can actually take care of you. In both Ghost Rider and teenager aspects."

I was rather taken aback with the offer, and I didn't know what to say. Part of me didn't really care either way, seeming rather flippant about it…another said to shove it back in his face…whereas another part told me to take the offer, telling me that's I'd probably never get another chance like this. When the advantages were weighed up and compared to the disadvantages…the disadvantages seemed almost insignificant. I swallowed to clear my throat as I voiced my choice.

"I barely know you…and I've only really seen you on TV and in the newspapers, and I don't count that as knowing you. If you get me." I said, frowning.

"To be honest, it's more about keeping you safe." Johnny reasoned with an indifferent shrug.

"Alright then….I don't see why not." I said, imitating his shrug and shoving my hands in my jean pockets. "But I warn you, I keep a permanent floordrobe…I'm pretty argumentative and I get into trouble a lot."

Johnny smirked. "I'm pretty sue I can handle that." He said, motioning for me to follow him with his head. "Now then we better hurry if we want to be back here for six, which will give us two hours until you transform again. You up for that?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Hell am I. I want to ride a bike, damn it."

* * *

><p>Success! We had the adoption form sorted, and I had managed to persuade Blaze that I needed a shower. I say persuade. I had actually threatened to go naked have a bath in holy water from the church christening…thing. Naturally he had gone a little green and had then unintentionally taken my side in insisting that we should go back to mine, have a shower, make up a small backpack, and notify Martin that I was moving out.<p>

We stopped outside my apartment, and I hopped off of the bike, leaving Johnny behind as I ran over to my front door with my hair streaming out behind me. He cleared his throat and I stopped and looked back momentarily. "Uhh, I'm going to quickly ride over to my place. I probably need a shower myself, and I'll need to pick some stuff up." He said. I nodded to show I'd heard and raised a hand to him as he drove off.

I turned back to the door and patted my pockets, looking for my keys. "Shit." I muttered, realizing I'd left them back at the church with Slade for safe-keeping.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, (trust me when I say I have a nosy neighbourhood) I managed to open the letterbox and just about stick my wrist through. Checking again just to make sure, I let my arm catch fire using the powers that I had, turning my hand skeletal, but keeping the flames at bay so I didn't set the door on fire. I had no water on me, and if that had set fire, I would have actually resorted to spitting or weeing on it to try and put it out. A grim thought indeed.

I gritted my teeth as I took the final step to hook my skeletal fingers on the latch, just managing to tug it down so as to open the door. I smirked, feeling very smug all of a sudden as I quickly withdrew my arm and returned it to normal.

Pushing the door open, I was surprised when a voice hailed me from behind. "Hey Kira, how're y-Whoa. You look messed up…something happen the other day? I noticed you haven't slept here for the last two nights. What happened?"

Mentally, I cringed. Great, Martin had seen me BEFORE I had got myself cleaned up and had an excuse ready. I had nothing! I was the worst on the spot liar in the WORLD. I turned to face him somewhat sheepishly, seeing him standing there in his hot skinny jeans…..hot baggy white t-shirt…..casual trainers….Damn it. "Oh, uhhh…..Yeah. I was with a…friend."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned up against the doorway to his own apartment and ran a hand through his blonde and light brown mix of bed-looking hair, which he had no idea of how sexy it looked. "Oh yeah? What were you doing, playing with fire?"

I nearly laughed. Nearly. "Something like that. Fireworks." I nodded.

"For two nights?" He asked incredulously, staring at me with his deep blue eyes.

"Y-Yeah…." I said slowly, cringing at how fake it sounded.

He nodded. "So….Is that your excuse for getting out of paying the rent?" He asked.

I stopped trying to edge the door back, and I blinked at him. "What?" I asked cleverly.

"You know…the rent you owe me every month that you mysteriously haven't paid me and the excuse is that you've been away for two days with a friend." He snapped sarcastically.

Ouch.

"I swear, Martin….I put that shit through your letterbox. All forty of it. In a freaking envelope. Don't go asking for more, because I haven't got any more to spare." I said, feeling slightly indignant at the accusation.

"Then get out." He said.

I stared at him. "How….what?" I asked slightly blankly, trying to process why he had taken my line which I was supposed to have said kindly to him after my shower

"If you can't pay up, get out." He repeated, shaking his hair to the left as he folded his arms over his chest.

Staring at him with a calculating gaze, I gave up and pursed my lips, throwing the door wide open and flinging my hands out dramatically before they swung back and hit my sides uselessly. "Fine." I snapped, noting his taken aback look at my sudden violent acceptance. "I'll find somewhere else to stay and come back for my stuff later shall I? Well that's perfectly dandy. Tell you what, I'll have a shower, pack a backpack for now, find somewhere to stay for free whilst I go and earn more money down at that hellhole they call a bar, go rent somewhere else that's hopefully cheaper, maybe sell a few possessions online for more money, and come back for the rest of my stuff then. Yeah? Awesome, I'll be in touch. Perhaps in the meantime you can check your post from TWO DAYS AGO."

I slammed the door then, not wanting to hear anymore. I raced into my room and tore down a large mountain backpack from the top of my only wardrobe. Opening it, I stuffed all my shoes and clothes into it at the bottom, and two five pound notes concealed in a purse with a skull design on it were wedged into a small side pocket.

Looking around the room wildly, I grabbed my netbook and mobile, shoving them in with their chargers just in case I needed them. A few books, both educational and leisure were stuffed in too, as well as a notebook and pencil case.

Running to the bathroom, I picked up a small toiletries bag and filled it with all the essentials. Girl essentials, hair products, teeth cleaning objects, flannels and soaps, shower cap. Bending down, opened a small cupboard and dragged out a couple of towels which trailed behind me as I ran back into my room and carefully rolled them around the toiletries bag and lowered them into the backpack.

Having finished the backpack, I took it into the kitchen, where I all but raided my cupboards. I made a sandwich whilst I was at it, taking huge bites out of a turkey, rocket and cranberry sandwich whilst shoving packs of crisps and bottles of water into my back. I spied a packet of Oreos too. Those went straight in.

Carefully.

I glanced at the time which glowed green at me from the microwave. I had about twenty minutes until Johnny was coming back. "Hell." I muttered, placing the backpack safely on the floor and darting into the bathroom, shedding my clothes like skin as I turned the shower on hurriedly.

The hot water stung at first, but it was soon soothing and relaxing, and my once tense shoulders soon relaxed. I didn't particularly want to stay in the shower, because the steam always started to annoy me, and a shower is where you can reflect on things. Trust me, I didn't want to reflect just yet. There was still shit going down. Reflection could come later.

It was with that thought in mind that I showered and dried quickly; changing into some new clothes and throwing the ones I had been wearing earlier into the washing machine, turning it on and listening to the rumble of machinery as it started to do its job.

I grabbed a quick drink, just for the sake of having something to do whilst I waited for the washing machine to finish. Muttering to myself darkly, I grabbed a hairdryer from my room and plugged it in to the nearest socket, turning it on and eyeing myself as I dried my currently soaking long black locks.

My face looked kind of tired still, but it didn't look too bad. The bags under my eyes weren't too obvious, and my deep red t-shirt seemed to light up my face a little, giving it some colour other than the pale white which permanently stained my face. Red was my colour, but for some reason that worried people. I wasn't sure why. I mean, it wasn't like I was going to pick up a pillow and start hitting them brutally with it just because it was red. Even though it sounded highly amusing.

Besides I don't speak pillow, and I don't hear voices. Not since I learnt that it was just the tannoy systems in shops.

With a sigh, I turned off my hairdryer and scraped a brush through my hair, tying it back into its signature high pony-tail. Taking the plug out, I wrapped it around the hairdryer and put it back into its box house and storing it away in the cupboard. After a hesitation, I took it back out and added it to the backpack. It was just too handy, and not to mention it was a girls essential.

The washing machine beeped at me, and I rolled my eyes. Grabbing a drying rack from beside the fridge in the kitchen, I set it up beside the washing machine, opening the little circular door and grabbing the wet, clean clothes, hanging them securely over the rack and placing a mat underneath the rack so that none of the excess water would wash all over the floor if it dripped whilst it dried.

I jumped as my letterbox opened and delivered the post through it, just one tiny envelope. Cursing myself for being so jumpy, I stalked over to it and picked it up. It was addressed to me, surprise, surprise. But it wasn't from Martin, or anyone else I knew. The handwriting looked old-style, and I could have sworn I'd seen it somewhere before. Perhaps it was just-

My eyes widened in realisation, and my hand trembled as I fumbled to open the letter, gingerly drawing out a smooth, small piece of parchment, as though it was going to burst into flames upon touching it, I read the neat scrawl. There were barely two lines written on it. My breath caught in my throat it confirmed who it was from.

'_Took the liberty of burning the envelope you posted through. You live on the road. Better start doing your job, else I'll find someone else. Mephistopheles._'I clenched my teeth and my fist simultaneously, listening as the letter crumpled noisily in my hand before I launched it into the bin in a fit of anger. I glared out of the window opposite me, thinking that perhaps my evil glare might do something cool, like shatter the window, or maybe make it melt. Instead, the glare was returned from down below in the street. A man was standing there, unmistakably staring at her through the window. He looked like something out of a scary movie. He was stood under a drainpipe that had dripped into a small puddle below, but the puddle was tiny….so why did the guy look drenched?

I blinked momentarily, and just like that, he had disappeared.

Rubbing my eyes, I stared at the spot where the man had stood not seconds earlier, not believing what I thought I had just seen. Did…..Did I seriously just see someone just materialize into a puddle? A knock on the front door didn't let me ponder the thought for long.

"Kira? Get out here. We haven't got long before we need to meet back up with Slade." Johnny's voice resounded through the door. Distracted, I wandered over to my room and picked up my heavy backpack, slinging my arms through the straps and securing it over my shoulders before opening the door and closing it behind me, finding my new dad sitting waiting for me on Grace.

"You got everything you need?" He asked as I seated myself behind him and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist.

I nodded, still staring at the puddle. "Yeah…" I said, only snapping back into reality when the bike started up, allowing us to high-tail it out of my former home

* * *

><p>We walked back into the church, and Slade looked up from where he was dusting a large cross on the alter, making it look like it was radiating beams of golden light. "You done it then?" He asked simply.<p>

Blaze nodded, holding up a piece of paper that I knew held the confirmation of my adoption on it. I felt slightly proud, knowing that I was now the daughter of not only a world famous biker, but also the daughter of a Ghost Rider.

"Will Mephistopheles know about this do you think?" I asked as I lay down fully and rested in one of the church pews, watching idly as Carter continued to polish the cross.

Johnny looked down at me and rested his hand on the back of the wooden pew, leaning into it. "He makes it his business to know. He'll know. As will any other demon who decides to do some research on the subject of a Ghost Rider."

I grimaced. That didn't sound good…that didn't sound good at all, considering what I'd seen earlier…or rather, what I thought I'd seen. I checked my watch, which read five o'clock, seeing as we'd come back an hour earlier than expected. This meant three hours of waiting around before anything exciting happened. I glanced at the form that was still held in Johnny's hand, and I suddenly thought of something, pulling a face.

"Wait a minute…does this mean I have to call you '_Dad_'?" I asked.

Carter snorted with laughter up ahead, quickly trying to turn it into an unsuccessful sneeze.

"It's up to you…I'm good with any of them." Johnny said with a smirk. "Anyway, you've got three hours left now, so you might as well sleep for two."

I glared at him witheringly. "I don't sleep. I'm an insomniac."

Johnny held up a finger to me. "Wait here." He said, making me roll my eyes. What else was I going to do?

He came back minutes later with some small weird violet flower that had long narrow leaves on it. I gazed at it doubtfully. "What's that going to do?" I asked. Laying the flower in the crook of my shoulder, he crushed the flower slightly, making me frown.

"Breathe in deeply through your nose and try to go to sleep. It should help. That's Lavender." He explained, running his hand tiredly through his hair.

"Don't see how this is supposed to help, but I'll give it a go anyway." I muttered, doing as he had instructed as I closed my eyes.

I'll admit, the lavender smelt heavenly. It was strong and sharp…but it was relaxing, and if I concentrated a little on the perfume of the flower, it almost smelt…sweet. But not candy sweet. I had a vision…or maybe it was a dream, I couldn't be sure. I wasn't even sure if I was asleep. I was laying back, with my hands behind my head, and chewing on a long blade of grass, like I've seen Slade do. Lavender bushes were quite close, and there was towering trees all around me. The sun was setting, signalling that it was late evening.

Bees buzzed lazily in and out of the lavender bushes, and birds chirped quietly above me as I watched the sky throw out hues of rosy pinks, bright oranges and deep, rich reds that matched the colour of the sun, which was literally a ball of red in the sky, like a spot of blood tainting the horizon.

I felt totally at ease.

A sound made me tense, and I saw Martin blur into focus as he came and sat down next to me in silence, laying back until he was alongside me, looking at me as though it was some kind of sick love story scene as his messed up hair fell into his eyes slightly.

But it felt right, and as he smiled at me, I smiled back.

It was only when a breeze stirred loudly in the trees, rattling their leaves, and the ground trembled beneath us, that I sat up in alarm, Martin doing the same.

He grabbed my hand and made me look at him, and I finally registered the urgency on his face, making me instantly pay attention to him, although the grounds trembling had increased violently, and the wind had become frenzied until it was a storm.

"Beware the elements, Kira." He shouted over the pandemonium.

Then everything went black.

* * *

><p>Johnny Blaze and Carter Slade returned from where they had had a friendly drink outside for about an hour, Carter having claimed that he had to light the candles before dark.<p>

He noticed a few stray strands of black hair hanging over the end of the pew, and he shook his head with a small laugh. "Best not leave her there; else ways she'll wake up all stiff." He commented.

Blaze looked over and rolled his eyes, walking over to pick her up bodily, holding her small, curled up body close to his chest. "You still got that little bedroom?" He asked quickly, gently shifting her so as not to wake her up.

"Yeah, it's opposite mine. Think you stayed in there once or twice if I 'member correctly." Carter confirmed, nodding in the general direction of it as he spoke, lighting up another of the candles that was now illuminating the isle.

Johnny nodded and made his way through to said bedroom, opening the door with some difficulty and gently depositing his daughter into the bed, making sure she was comfortable as he removed the hair from her face and drew the covers up over her, watching her sleep for a few minutes.

Standing up resolutely, he went back out into the corridor, and taking one last glance at her, he smiled to himself and closed the door.

* * *

><p>When I woke up two and a half hours later, the place was quiet. Too quiet. Frowning to myself, I sat up, letting the Lavender fall off my shoulder, and then onto the floor where it went unnoticed as I stood up and looked around. My back ached slightly from the rather uncomfortable wooden pew, by I couldn't really complain, seeing as I had now been moved to some kind of bedroom. In any case, at least I'd been able to sleep.<p>

"Johnny?" I called out, slightly unsure of the familiar, yet odd surroundings. I headed out back into the main church, to where the lit candles illuminated where I had managed to fall asleep earlier in one of the pews. "Dad?" I tried again, trying out the feeling of calling him by that. But there was still no answer. Was it some kind of test?

An owl hooted from in the rafters, breaking the silence and making me jump terribly. Horrible images ran through my mind as it finally processed that I was in a church…at night…alone.

"Carter?" I yelled, jogging slightly up the isle.

I felt so…defenceless. What if I was about to be attacked? What if Johnny and Carter were dead? Wait no, that was impossible. They were Ghost Riders…Well…Carter could be dead…but it was unlikely with his amount of experience. Besides he would probably have Johnny with him. So why did have such an ominous feeling?

Catching sight of a wooden cabinet, I raced over to it. I was hoping that it held some matches and candles, so I could take them outside with me for when I braced myself to searching outside, just to make it feel a little lighter and safer.

But I found much better.

Upon opening the cabinet, I stared. I never knew a church could hold weapons. Not in the religious sense anyway. Nevertheless, there were six swords sitting there, looking as new as the day they had been bought. Perhaps Carter regularly cleaned them or something.

I looked at the set of six different swords in front of me, eyeing them speculatively. A rapier, katana, a cutlass, sabre, a long flat sword that I didn't know the name of, and rather oddly, a foil. What harm was a foil going to do to anyone? It had a rubber piece stuck on the end of it for god's sake! Still. It was probably a good idea to arm myself.

And no, not with the foil.

Making a quick decision, as I realised that I didn't have much time left due to the rapidly approaching darkness, I grabbed the rapier, which I noted had a very thin blade. Testing its weight, I was taken aback. It was surprisingly light, which was handy.

I hadn't really held a sword before, but I'd held kitchen knives, for cooking purposes. I used to be a waitress for crying out loud! Ok, I might have once thrown one at a wall because I'd been pissed off, but that was beside the point.

Taking the rapier into my right hand and closing the cabinet door with my left, I turned and tested out a couple of moves, swinging it around a little, trying to maintain what grace I could. Though to be honest, if anyone had been watching, they would have probably laughed and thought that it was an troll trying to dance.

Not to mention that the troll was in a church instead of a dungeon, but hey. Troll in the dungeon. (_**A/N: Cookies go out to everyone who gets the reference! ^^ **_)

Deciding that there was no reason for hiding out in a church, I headed outside into the cool air that had lost the day's heat. The time was near on eight o'clock at night and the sky was suitably dimmed as the night descended, the sun trying to feebly throw out its last few rays of light.

The rapier was hung by my side, but my hand clenched the handle so tight that my knuckles had gone white. I felt stupid admitting it to myself, but I was petrified. Yet still I walked through that damn graveyard. What was worse, I felt as though something was calling me by my name. Just whispering 'Kira…..Kira….', and whilst I hadn't totally panicked yet, I'm pretty sure that I should have. But it was probably just the wind.

"John-I mean…Dad?" I called, remembering quickly. "Carter?" Hearing no answer annoyed me, and it felt good to have something other than fear suddenly channelling through me. Using the idea, I tried again. "God damn it Carter. If this is some kind of joke, it isn't funny. Now you and Dad get your asses out here already!" I shouted, eagerly fuelling some anger into my voice.

By now, I'd reached the gate, and the small expanse of trees lay just beyond. Steeling my quivering nerves, I set foot outside the gate and kept walking. I could feel the Ghost Rider's burning feeling starting to build up within me, but I ignored it, pushing it down with the sheer force of my willpower as I stumbled over tree roots in what I had decided to call the mini forest. It was no forest of Dean, like they had in England, but it was definitely the forest of 'dark'.

It was a good thing I ate carrots…..and that I could produce a mini torch just by clicking my fingers.

"Kirrra…" A voice sighed, close to my ear. I jumped terribly, and thinking it was Carter, I scowled and swung my head around dramatically to show how irritated I was.

"If you honestly think that can scare me Carter, then let me-" I stopped abruptly, as I stared into a pair of foreign eyes, ones that stared back intently, almost greedily when I noticed the accompanying smile under the slightly hooked nose. I stared at him, and he stared back even though his black dreadlocks hung in front of his face as he leered towards me.

Unable to stop myself, I screamed in terror and started to run.

But I was stopped by him almost lazily….floating….in front of me. My eyes widened, but that was all I was able to do before his hand swished and slapped me around the side of the face so powerfully, that I slammed into a tree, and landed on the ground on all fours, coughing up blood as I felt pins and needles sticking in through my knees and hands where I'd fallen. Sparing a quick glance at my free hand, there was a large gash along the palm, and it was bleeding heavily.

It hurt like a bitch, but that wasn't going to stop me. Not by a long shot. I curled myself in and made it look as though I was hugging my knees in pain and terror. "W-W-What a-are y-y-you?" I asked with pretend fear.

Well. It wasn't all pretend, truth be told. Nonetheless, he seemed to buy it. "As the new daughter of the Ghost Rider, I'm surprised you don't know." He crowed, letting his hand fade in and out with the wind. "My name is Abigor, demon of the wind. But unfortunately for you, you have to die now. Revenge and all that, you see?"

"Let me kill her." A gravel-like voice said.

I was tempted to look up, but I quickly refrained myself from doing so. Instead, I settled for peeking out between cracks of space in-between my arms, to see a figure moulding itself up from particles of dirt from the mini forest floor. "No, Gressil….where is Wallow?" Abigor asked.

"There is no nearby water. He is unable to transport himself any closer. "Gressil informed him.

Abigor made a sound in his throat that sounded halfway between a hurricane and a growl. "We cannot have our revenge without him!" He shouted angrily. "The Ghost Rider's girl must die, so that he will mourn her and drive himself to death! Otherwise our revenge mission will be a failure, and if the Ghost Rider still walks, then Blackheart cannot return!"

I had no idea what the wind demon had just said, but even through his rant, he had managed to realize that I had been slowly but surely backing away. He disappeared, only to reappear behind me and grab a fistful of my charcoal black hair. "Oh no you don't." He hissed, hauling me upright by my hair, making me scream in pain as I resisted.

Until I gritted my teeth and arced the rapier up with a smooth flick of my wrist, intending to spear him through the heart or head from where he stood behind me.

Oh, the awkward moment when he stares at the hole of empty space that I managed to spear though where his neck should be. He tilted his head and Gressil started laughing, as did Abigor. Their laughter annoyed me, and in that second I felt heat flare through me, and on impulse I ignited my hand. That got them stop. If only momentarily.

This time they laughed even harder, their laughter a cruel ringing in my ears. "Looks like we've got a little Ghost Rider on our hands, Gressil." Abigor teased wickedly as he leered towards me, forcing more of his 'empty space' down the length of the rapier.

"No, she's just playing with fire that she can't control. Let's put it out for her." He suggested.

There was a few seconds of silence, and my flames died out. Gressil shot forwards and grabbed me by the throat with one hand and squeezing, lifting me up so that I unintentionally dropped the rapier so that it landed with a soft thump on the leaf ridden ground so as I could use my hands to scrabble at his one hand that held me. In return, my neck was squeezed even harder, so that all my airways were cut off.

As I struggled, I was able to feel my heartbeat more prominently, and although I was in so much pain, I tried not to let go of the air I had managed to trap in my mouth. His grip relaxed slightly as I played dead quickly and went limp. I slowly breathed in as much as I could through my nose and waited, holding it there until his grip relaxed even further.

"Is she dead?" Abigor asked warily, a trace of excitement in his voice.

"Not yet, I can still feel a heartbeat." Gressil replied.

"Well hurry it up!" Abigor snapped impatiently.

Before Gressil could retighten his grip on my neck, I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as could for the five seconds that it managed to stun the two of them. "!" I hollered, knowing that I was in no state of mind to even try to activate the Rider's powers yet, since I didn't know what these guys were capable of.

Abigor laughed again, as did Gressil. The sound an evil cackle. "She thinks someone is really going to come and save her. How…sickening." He said, his voice sounding disgusted at the end.

"In my opinion, I think it's sickening that you two didn't stay in Hell like your brothers when I sent you there all those years ago." A familiar voice said.

Gressil dropped me as though I had burnt him, and he and Abigor stared at the newcomer.

"Johnny…." I croaked, my voice weak even as I massaged it, wincing each time it gave a painful twinge as I gulped down good, sweet oxygen into my starved lungs. He ignored me, and instead focused his attention on the two demons, slowly walking around them as though he were stalking prey as he made his way over to me.

"Ghost Rider." Gressil snarled angrily, Abigor pulling a similar face but wisely remaining silent as he backed off. In answer, Johnny unravelled his trademark length of chain just by letting it drop to the ground with a clinking until it finally hit the ground with an ominous thud. Abigor raised his head slightly, not taking his eyes off of the chain as he backed off, pulling at Gressil's arm urgently. As Johnny cracked the chain in their direction with a burst of fire erupting from it, Abigor vanished in a sudden gust of wind, and Gressil hurriedly became one with the earth as he crumbled down into it and sank underground.

There was a few moments of silence, allowing us to conclude that they had definitely gone, and I stood up and half-raised my fist in the air. "Woo!" I cheered weakly, seeing as my throat still hurt, and that I could already feel bruises coming up in the colours of blue, black and even dark shades of purple.

It was only when Johnny turned to look at me, and I noticed how furious he looked, when I finally was able to comprehend how much shit I was in. I gulped worriedly.

"Would saying 'I'm sorry' help?-" I asked tentatively with a weak, hopeful smile. I had barely finished asking the question when his arm shot out and grabbed my forearm, and his grip was so tight that it hurt, and his tone when he spoke scared me, but it didn't stop me from trying to pull away desperately. Even though it was in vain.

"Listen to me. Listen to me!" He commanded, forcing me to look at him. "When we get back to the church, we're going to have a little chat. Is that clear?" I growled, shaking me by the arm roughly so as to get me to answer.

"Y-Yeah." I answered quickly, nodding repeatedly as I let him all but drag me back out of the mini forest and into the church, where we found Carter sitting at the table. He took one look at the two of us and stood up, coming straight over towards me. He looked calm, and he was acting it, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that he too was also riled up. Upon reaching us, Johnny stepped away so that Carter could get a good look at me. One full glance from all four sides was all it took and he was ushering me into a small prayer room, clattering around as he brought out small sewing needles and such. All the basic first aid stuff and he even filled a small bowl of hot water. Pushing me down into a chair, he closed the door behind the two of us.

I hunched my shoulders over and tried to draw into myself, looking behind me and to the side as I took a sudden interest in the pastel walls.

"S'no good trying to ignore me." Carter said at least, his tone flat, making me wince.

I sighed, giving in to the inevitable. "I'm in trouble aren't I…..?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Carter raised an eyebrow at me. "Trouble? Hell missy, that don't half cover for what you're in for."

I groaned and covered my face with my hands, only to quickly retract them with a hiss and leaving a line of blood on my face from my still bleeding gash, which Carter quickly took and attended to with his new needles that he must have got from my first aid pack earlier.

"Thanks…." I muttered, actually kind of grateful that he was patching me up. In return I got a small, knowing smile, making me snort quietly. We stayed like this for at least another quarter of an hour, in which he slowly patched up my knees, hands and any other cut. Then he got a good look at my neck, and let out a low whistle.

"Well…..As for your neck, m'afraid we're just gonna have to let it bruise and fade with time. Try not to move it so much, I'd say. You might wanna try sleeping for the next few days to restrict the movement." He advised, dipping his hat slightly as he allowed me to finally stand back up.

I nodded to show I'd heard, and warily bit the inside of my cheek as I stared at the door that I was about to have to go through. He noticed the look on my face as he put the chair back and gently pushed the small of my back so as to send me forwards towards the direction of the door. I turned to look at him, my face portraying my alarm. He shrugged in response as he washed his hands and dried them on a small towel. "Might as well just get it over with kid. You ain't gettin' outta this one, kid." He said sagely, nodding towards the door as he came up behind me and opened the door for us both, making me swallow hard.

Pushing me forward again, I wanted to resist, but forced myself to relax as I saw Johnny sitting at the table. Carter cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows, making Johnny turn to look at us as Carter tipped his hat to him and walked out into the graveyard, closing the door behind him and leaving me alone with Johnny.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Woo! 7500+ words! =D Hope it was ok. ^^<br>I would have updated last week, but no joke, I am exam OVERLOADED. So don't panic if I don't update every week. Shishishishishishi! **_

_**Review pleaaaaaaseee! ^_^**_

_**Kai **__**XxxXxxX**_


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